Aliheydar Agakerim oglu Garayev () (June 20, 1896 – April 24, 1938) also spelled as Ali Heydar Garayev, was an Azerbaijani

Menshevik The Mensheviks ('the Minority') were a faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP) which split with Vladimir Lenin's Bolshevik faction at the Second Party Congress in 1903. Mensheviks held more moderate and reformist ...

and later

Bolshevik The Bolsheviks, led by Vladimir Lenin, were a radical Faction (political), faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP) which split with the Mensheviks at the 2nd Congress of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party, ...

revolutionary A revolutionary is a person who either participates in, or advocates for, a revolution. The term ''revolutionary'' can also be used as an adjective to describe something producing a major and sudden impact on society. Definition The term—bot ...

, People's Commissar of Justice of

Azerbaijan SSR The Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic, also referred to as the Azerbaijani Soviet Socialist Republic, Azerbaijan SSR, Azerbaijani SSR, AzSSR, Soviet Azerbaijan or simply Azerbaijan, was one of the constituent republics of the Soviet Union be ...

, People's Commissar for Military and Naval Affairs of Azerbaijan during Soviet period.

Early life

Garayev was born in

Shamakhi Shamakhi (, ) is a city in Azerbaijan and the administrative centre of the Shamakhi District. The city's estimated population was 31,704. It is famous for its traditional dancers, the Shamakhi Dancers, and also for perhaps giving its name to th ...

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan, officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, is a Boundaries between the continents, transcontinental and landlocked country at the boundary of West Asia and Eastern Europe. It is a part of the South Caucasus region and is bounded by ...

. Having completed ''Shamakhi Realny School'', he taught at a Russian school in

Baku Baku (, ; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Azerbaijan, largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and in the Caucasus region. Baku is below sea level, which makes it the List of capital ci ...

. He then entered the

Novocherkassk Novocherkassk () is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city in Rostov Oblast, Russia, located near the confluence of the Tuzlov and Aksay Rivers, the latter a distributary of the Don (river), Don River. Novocherkassk is best known as the ...

Polytechnic Institute and was involved in student revolutionary activities. In 1917, he chaired the Shamakhi Workers and Soldiers Council. During 1918-1920, Garayev was leader of faction

Hummet The Muslim Social Democratic Party, usually referred to as Hummet (), was a political party in South Caucasus. In 1920, it merged with the Baku communist group Adalat ( 'Justice') to form the first Communist Party of Azerbaijan. "Old" Hummet (1 ...

in Azerbaijan representing social-democrats. After occupation of Azerbaijan by the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of People ...

on April 27, 1920, he was member of the Interim Azerbaijan Revolutionary Committee, Baku Revolutionary Committee, People's Labor Commissar, People's Commissar for Military and Naval Affairs of Azerbaijan and briefly headed the Baku City Executive Committee.

Overthrowing ADR government

Garayev was the Bolshevik leader who facilitated arrival of the Red Army in Azerbaijan and overthrow of the government of

Azerbaijan Democratic Republic The Azerbaijan Democratic Republic (), also known as the Azerbaijan People's Republic (; ), was the first secular democracy, democratic republic in the Turkic peoples, Turkic and Muslim worlds. *Tadeusz Swietochowski. ''Russia and Azerbaijan: ...

. He was one of the people along with Bolshevik activist Chingiz Ildyrym, who passed on the ultimatum to the

Azerbaijani Parliament The National Assembly (), also transliterated as Milli Mejlis, is the legislative branch of government in Azerbaijan. The unicameral National Assembly has 125 deputies: previously 100 members were elected for five-year terms in single-seat co ...

to surrender and transfer all authority to Bolshevik forces. While lobbying for arrival of Bolshevik troops in Baku, Garayev convinced the ADR government that with establishment of Soviet regime in Azerbaijan, the Red Army will crash the Armenian rebels in

Karabakh Karabakh ( ; ) is a geographic region in southwestern Azerbaijan and eastern Armenia, extending from the highlands of the Lesser Caucasus down to the lowlands between the rivers Kura and Aras. It is divided into three regions: Highland Kara ...

region of Azerbaijan.

power in

have managed to keep the Nagorno Karabakh and Nakchivan in the territory of Azerbaijan. Only

Zangezur Zangezur () is a historical and geographical region in Eastern Armenia on the slopes of the Zangezur Mountains which largely corresponds to the Syunik Province of Armenia. It was ceded to Russia by Qajar Iran according to the Treaty of Gulistan ...

was transferred to Armenian SSR. According to a known rumour, after establishment of the Soviet republic in Azerbaijan, Garayev lobbied for arrest and execution of one of founders of Azerbaijan Democratic Republic and Chairman of

Azerbaijani National Council Azerbaijani National Council () was the first delegated legislative body of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic (ADR) from 27 May 1918 to 17 June 1918 and again from 16 November 1918 to 3 December 1918. It was succeeded by the ''Parliament'' (), a ...

Mammed Amin Rasulzade Mahammad Amin Akhund Haji Molla Alakbar oghlu Rasulzade (31 January 1884 – 6 March 1955) was an Azerbaijani politician, journalist and the head of the Azerbaijani National Council. He is mainly considered the founder of Azerbaijan Democratic ...

but was cut off in the meeting with Stalin who declared that Rasulzade had saved his life twice and that he would go free. In response to Garayev's earlier chant in front of the members of Azerbaijani parliament that he would get everyone executed, Rasulzade had responded that the very Bolshevik government which Garayev defended would execute him in the future.

Activities in Soviet Azerbaijan

From 1921 through 1931, Garayev held various administrative positions in the Soviet government. He was editor is a number of magazines and journals such as ''Khalq Qazeti'', ''Kommunist'' (January–May 1922) and others. He personally authored many Bolshevik propaganda articles in Azerbaijan such as ''Who needs mourning?'' () targeting abolishment of religious practices in the republic. While People's Commissar of Justice, he convicted and imprisoned some of the Azerbaijani intellectuals. Garayev is infamous for his political intrigues. He would determine the individuals who had sympathies for Azerbaijani nationalism working in press and had them arrested.

Nariman Narimanov Nariman Karbalayi Najaf oghlu Narimanov (, ; – 19 March 1925) was an Azerbaijanis, Azerbaijani Bolsheviks, Bolshevik revolutionary, writer, publicist, politician and statesman. For just over one year, beginning in May 1920, Narimanov headed th ...

have criticized Garayev's career with claiming that the source of his mistakes are his "young and hot-blooded personality." A Woman's Club in Baku was named after Aliheydar Garayev in the 1920s which was involved in movement for education and emancipation of women. After independence of Azerbaijan, the street named in honor of Aliheydar Garayev was changed to Ahmad Javad street.

Death

On recommendations from

Lavrentiy Beria Lavrentiy Pavlovich Beria ka, ლავრენტი პავლეს ძე ბერია} ''Lavrenti Pavles dze Beria'' ( – 23 December 1953) was a Soviet politician and one of the longest-serving and most influential of Joseph ...

to Stalin, Aliheydar Garayev was arrested and charged with

espionage Espionage, spying, or intelligence gathering, as a subfield of the intelligence field, is the act of obtaining secret or confidential information ( intelligence). A person who commits espionage on a mission-specific contract is called an ...

and preparations for counter-revolutionary activities in the years preceding the

Great Patriotic War The Eastern Front, also known as the Great Patriotic War (term), Great Patriotic War in the Soviet Union and its successor states, and the German–Soviet War in modern Germany and Ukraine, was a Theater (warfare), theatre of World War II ...

. He was

executed by firing squad Execution by firing squad, in the past sometimes called fusillading (from the French , rifle), is a method of capital punishment, particularly common in the military and in times of war. Some reasons for its use are that firearms are usually re ...

on April 24, 1938, on Stalin's orders.

Awards

Garayev had been awarded with

Order of the Red Banner of Labour The Order of the Red Banner of Labour () was an order of the Soviet Union established to honour great deeds and services to the Soviet state and society in the fields of production, science, culture, literature, the arts, education, sports ...

for his contributions to Bolshevik movement during his terms in office.

References